jak

Sounds like a fellow VAC member ! OK if I PM you for a chat ? JAK

A great article and I may just attempt the Wallis cast when I'm feeling brave (having always used the Nottingham cast - though I didn't know it was called that !) A couple of things - i think the article meant Lewtham engineering (rather than Lewthwaite) but i may be wrong ...... i have a Lewtham engineering Sidecaster (though I always called it a frontcaster) which I use for Legering or Lake float fishing (it's a bit heavy for prolonged trotting). it's a great reel and ideal for long casting. I agree with the line twist but I have one of those little metal things like an arsley bomb with a spiral and that does a good job of removing the twist. I don't get to fish a lot so it may be more of a problem if you use it regularly ........ JAK

Haven't been about so only just read this........... Not sure if it's a true Centrepin but i have no problems casting with one of my reels as it's a frontcaster !! Just pivot the reel and cast as a normal fixed spool and then turn it back. Excellent bit of kit. Bit too heavy for a long, trotting session but thoroughly recommend it for legering for Tench and Barbel or float fishing on a lake. I love fishing the PIN. JAK

Hi All Just a request for info on a new venue I'm looking at. Anybody recently fished Shillinglee (not the club water) for tench ? If so any views or pointers appreciated. thanks JAK

Hi Biggles Fished it a few times (and the other side of the bridge where i had a 11lb 12oz Barbel ) Chub will be the main quarry, though there are Barbel, roach and carp about. i don't think it's an easy water but i've had joy either legering tight to the far bank ...pellet, paste, maggot, bread flake, meat and also trotting breadflake and maggot to features. As dusk falls can catch on the near bank at your feet. again paste has done well. I've also blanked a few times as well ! In the shallow fast water before the bridge, I've never fished it, but I've seen people doing well ....wading 1/2 way and trotting shallow tight to the far bank where there's a run. Good luck JAK

I've only fished them a couple of times but done work parties there over the last couple of years. The Match Pit /(boot pit) is getting a reputation for some good sized carp and tench even though it's supposed to be the match pit and there's quite a few rudd and some tench and catfish in the Marsh Pit (can be a bit weedy) ......... Railway and Lea pit can be hard but have reputations for specimen carp and bream, but I've not fished them and can't remember which is which. I can let you have a bailiffs number via PM if you want to give him a call and find out more. Jak

I don't use holdalls for short evening sessions, I use a quiver .... as do a lot of anglers who travel light. So an extra 6 inches on a broken down rod is no problems. Normally I take 2 leger rods made up - 1 light and 1 heavier, and a 3 piece float rod. i then fish to whatever I find when I reach the river ......... much less likely to trot if I have to set up my match rod and break it down again .....especially as I'm partially sighted and tying knots and threading rings is a hit and miss affair !!! JAK

Can anybody tell me why there are so few 2 piece 13 foot float rods ? I've found only 2 (one's the Free Spirit super specialist advanced float rod) and that's £125 !!! Too much for the occassional use it would get. Just want a general purpose rod i can keep made up for trotting a few local rivers in stolen hours in the evenings. I currently use a 13ft float rod (3 piece) and a 12ft Avon rod and the 12" difference, and the playing action, is quite obvious! If you know of any, or could tell me why there are so few, much appreciated JAK

Dan Got your PM and have E-Mailed you back. I agree that everyone should fish Blenheim at least once in their life. There's one guy who doesn't fish. Every year he hires a punt for the day, goes out in the middle of the lake, reads and sleeps.....I guess for him just to be there is a treat. Personally, not being able to wet a line would drive me spare !!!

Dan have been there at least once a year for the last 15 years or so (am going on the 22nd June) and I have a map of the lake with depths marked on it. if you want to send me a PM I can point you at a couple of swims, baits, tips and work out how to get you the map. Jak

I'm going to cheat and say I have 4 !!!!! But it's my reply so I can say what I like 1) The mist rising, still water, Lilypads and the first few tench bubbles surfacing around a waiting float. 2) the adrenalin shot that surges through you when the float slips under 3) the precise moment of the strike where you feel the weight on the line and the first indication that a fish is on 4) the look on the face of someone proudly holding their first ever fish for the camera (young or old) .......

Fishing brings you into contact with many people ..... from the briefest of passing bys, to lifelong friends ........ for me Argyll was the briefest of passing bys but I always valued his posts. My thoughts are with his friends and family. JAK

Just wondered if anyone else had similar experiences .......... Last week my mate went fishing on a narrow stretch of the River Ivel. Set himself up for legering, baited up and settled down. A bit later on a husband and wife appeared and although there was no one else on the river he fished about 30 yards to my mates left whilst she was only 10 Yards to his left (it's a 3 mile stretch with no marked swims!) After 20 minutes with no action, and fancying a bit of space, he took a rod and a few bits and went stalking. Left behind his chair, umbrella , rod rests and main bag and added some more bait in the hopes the fish would move in. When he came back 1/2 an hour later the woman was standing by his chair and fishing in his swim ......... casting to the spot he'd just baited up! He said he was amazed and when challenged (I can only guess at the words he used) all the woman could say was ..... I thought you'd finished !!!! She went back to her own swim and a bit later caught a 6 1/2lb barbel. My mate blanked and needless to say didn't stay much longer. Am I just getting old and cranky or are more and more anglers concerned with fishing the swim they want with no respect to other anglers space???

Just a story to share ......... wondered if it's happened to anyone else ? Mate and I waggler fishing a small estate lake for a few hours after work. Social fishing in adjacent swims but with a big overhanging tree between us. Shout goes up that he's into a decent carp so I go to reel my rod in and help him (hinder him?).... only to find I'm into a fish as well. After a few minutes it becomes clear we're both playing the same fish (!) It soon becomes apparent that neither of us can get the fish in close without snagging the other one in the tree in the middle. After another minute or so, to much cursing, he pulls out and leaves me playing the fish (I always was the better angler ). Despite my not inconsiderable skills the carp, now finding it's only fighting against one angler, takes me into a set of underwater lily pads and manages to shed the hook!!!! My turn to curse!!! We're fairly sure he caught it first but at no time did it fight like it was foul hooked (we saw it on the surface and it was a good double). All a bit bizarre. Another one shed the hook in the same session and we were left to speculate on what might have been.........

just a small Maggot Feeder and 4 maggots on a size 14........ apparently a few barbel had come out over the previous couple of weeks to maggot as well as a number of chub. You can't beat finding someone prepared to share a bit of local knowledge